Hastings Banda

Hastings Banda (14 May 1898-25 November 1997) was the head of state of Malawi from 6 July 1964 to 24 May 1994, preceding Bakili Muluzi. Banda first served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1966 and as President from 1966 to 1994, and he led a brutal conservative dictatorship that existed until his forced deposition in 1994.

Biography
Hastings Banda was born in Kasungu, Malawi on 14 May 1898, and he worked as a medical doctor before co-founding and leading the Malawi Congress Party in opposition to white rule in the Central African Federation from 1953 to 1963. He emerged as the clear winner from the country's first elections in 1961, and he became Prime Minister upon Malawi's independence in 1964. He became president in 1966 after the abolition of the power of the British Crown in Malawi, and he declared himself president for life in 1971. He succeeded in establishing total control over the economic system and owned the two largest eocnomic enterprises in the country, making him the country's richest man, enabling him to finance the MCP, and to provide funds for bribes and other illegal transactions. He was forced by international pressure to concede democratic elections in 1994, which the MCP lost. He was subsequently charged with the 1983 murder of three of his ministers and one deputy, and he was acquitted in December 1995. It is estimated that as many as 18,000 people were imprisoned, tortured, and killed under his rule.